The Innkeeper’s Journal, Easter Sunday, 2023

It’s a chilly Easter morning, but as I step out onto the porch of the Inn at Foster Falls, the birds are singing. Through the fog that sits over the New River nearby, I can hear the water roar over the falls – a sound that I imagine has been constant for many thousands of years. The still-visible moon and I survey the scene in quiet gratitude. I am standing on the porch of a building long deserted, but finally – this opening weekend – it is full of life and light once more.

Most people know this building as the old orphanage, left boarded and empty in Foster Falls for almost 60 years. After decades of work by the Department of Conservation and Recreation, it has been transformed into a beautiful 10-room boutique hotel. It’s the kind of place that feels luxurious, but a tangible sense of its fascinating history permeates every room. I can’t wait for guests to experience it for themselves.

I look forward to the events that will take place here at the Inn – the weddings, the family gatherings, the holiday parties and group retreats. But what I think is appropriate as the very first gathering at the Inn is to invite the community here for an Open House. Locals have been so interested in the building for decades, and so excited as they have watched the restoration process. It’s time they get to step inside and see the transformation up close!

I’ve marked my calendar for Sunday, April 23, from 1:00 to 4:00 pm as the perfect day to welcome our neighbors in for a visit. I hope it will be a nice day so they can sit in a rocker on the porch for a spell! I think I’ll make a big pot of our locally roasted, signature coffee, brew some iced tea, and make a batch of cookies to show them that hospitality is our highest priority.

It will be so wonderful to fill this beautiful building with people once more. I am grateful to be a part of its next chapter as the Inn at Foster Falls.

Beth Kinghorn

Innkeeper